Dental bridge



Feb. 25, 1969 J. A- ANDREWS ET AL 3,429,043

DENTAL BRIDGE Filed March 14, 1968 INVENTORS (92 /me5 4. Andrews Egg 10. 63/71? 4. 50/7/77 United States Patent 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dental bridge for positioning one or more pontics in the mouth, the bridge including a bar carried by at least one abutment adjoining the area to be bridged, and a sleeve which is adapted to frictionally embrace the bar, the pontics being carried by the sleeve. The bar and the sleeve are each constructed of a high strength, corrosion resistant metal which has the property of providing a sufiicient cohesive force between the interengaging surfaces thereof to resist relative movement between the bar and the sleeve, without preventing such movement as may be necessary for separation thereof. The bar and the sleeve are each of a longitudinally curvilinear configuration, such configuration being that of an arc of a common circle.

This is a continuation-in-part of our application Ser. No. 507,180, filed Nov. 10, 1965, and entitled, Dental Bridge.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a removable dental bridge, the bridge consisting of a bar which is rectangular in transverse cross-sectional configuration and which is carried by at least one abutment tooth adjoining the area to be bridged; there being a sleeve which carries the pontics of the bridge, the sleeve being of such a configuration as to frictionally embrace the bar.

It is a yet further important object of this invention to construct the bar and the sleeve of the bridge of a metal material having the properties of high strength, corrosion resistance, and being of such a nature as to provide a sufiicient cohesive force between the interengaged surfaces of the bar and the sleeve to resist relative movement between said bar and said sleeve, the sleeve, however, being removable from the bar when sufiicient force is applied thereto.

It is a further important aim of the present invention to provide, in a dental bridge, a bar and a sleeve which are of a longitudinal, curvilinear configuration, the configuration of both components being identical and being that of an arc of a common circle for purposes of retention of the respective components and interchangeability thereof.

Other objects of various forms of this invention will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1- is a bottom plan view of an upper arch showing the bridge removed;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the bridge;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, exploded view showing the bar and the sleeve;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, substantially central sectional view showing the bridge in place;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of an upper arch and the bridge showing a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, exploded perspective view showing the modified form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, substantially central sectional 3,429,043 Patented Feb. 25, 1969 view showing the modified form of the invention in place;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the arch showing a yet further form of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary, bottom plan view of the form of invention shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the bridge forming a part of the modified form of invention illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9.

In the form of invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, the bridge, broadly designated by the numeral 20, is designed for insertion into an arch designated as 22, the specific embodiment of this form of the invention illustrated in the drawing showing an upper arch wherein the bridge consists of the central incisors and the lateral incisors constituting the pontics, although it will be appreciated that any one or more pontics may constitute the bridge within the contemplation of this invention.

The bridge as illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 consists of four pontics 24 and an artificial tissue portion 26 molded in surrounding relationship to the upper portion of the pontics whereby, when the bridge is inserted into the arch in a manner hereinatfer described, the same will be complementary thereto whereby a realistic appearance is presented.

In order that the bridge 20 may be removably positioned in the arch 22, pontics 24 have the rear faces thereof provided with a slot 28, which slot receives a longitudinally curvilinear sleeve 30, the sleeve 30 being seated in the slot 28 and suitably secured therein as by adhesive or the like, it being noted that the outer face of the sleeve 30 may be provided with knurling to thereby enhance the fit of the sleeve 30 into slot 28.

Sleeve 30 is U-shaped in transverse cross-sectional configuration whereby to present a bight 32 and a pair of spaced-apart, normally vertically disposed legs 34, the sleeve also presenting an outer face 36, which can be knurled as mentioned above, and an inner face 38, the inner face being U-shaped and thereby defining a channel or groove 40.

In order to receive the bridge 20, arch 22 is provided with a longitudinally curvilinear bar 42, the bar being substantially rectangular in cross-sectional configuration, and spanning the distance between a pair of spaced-apart abutment teeth 44, the bar 42 being suitably secured to said abutment teeth 44 as by fusing each end of the bar to its corresponding abutment in a known manner.

Bar 42, being rectangular in cross-sectional configuration, presents a pair of opposed, parallel sidewalls 46, each of said sidewalls having a plurality of minute serrations 48 formed thereupon whereby a corrugated surface is presented throughout the width and length of sidewalls 46.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. l-4, the inner face 38 of the sleeve 30 is shown as being smooth, although it will be readily appreciated that at least the vertical portions of said inner face 38 may be likewise provided with longitudinally extending serrations which would complementally mate with the serrations 48 of the bar 42 to thereby enhance the retention of the sleeve over the bar when the same are in embracing relationship.

However, in the preferred form of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 14, both the bar and the sleeve are constructed of a high-strength, corrosion resistant metal which has the property of providing a sufficient cohesive force between the sidewalls 46 of the bar and the face 38 of the sleeve so that it is not necessary to provide face 38 of sleeve 30 with serrations. Preferably, such metal is in the form of an austenitic chrome alloy or titanium alloy metal which has the properties of developing a sufficient cohesive force between interengaged faces thereof to prevent easy displacement of the components, such as the bar and the sleeve, from one another. Thus,

when the bar 42 and the sleeve 30 are fabricated from such a metal, the positioning of the sleeve 30 into embracing relationship with the bar 42 will cause the surface molecules of the two parts, which are each fabricated from the same metal, to align themselves in such fashion that a strong cohesive force between the components is created. When such type of metal is utilized, the serrations 48 permit only a random surface contact to occur between the sidewalls 46 and the face 38, thereby facilitating subsequent removal of the sleeve from the bar when it is necessary to remove the bridge 20 to clean the same, which would occur on the order of two to three times a day. Thus, random surface contact between the bar and the sleeve, in view of the nature of the metal from which each is fabricated, is sufficient to retain the sleeve on the bar and to resist relative movement therebetween without preventing such movement when it is desired to separate the sleeve from the bar as by applying a substantial force to the sleeve.

On the other hand, if metals not having the above described properties are to be used for the bar and the sleeve, the serrations 48 enable the retention between the components to be increased inasmuch as serrations 48 on sidewalls 46 would tend to bit into or grip the inner face 38 of the sleeve, it also being noted that inner face 38 might optionally be provided with complementary serrations to yet further increase the retention between the components.

It is also particularly important that the bar 42 and the sleeve 30 each be longitudinally curvilinear in configuration and that such configuration be in the form of an arc of a common circle whereby the bar 42 and the sleeve 30 are of the same longitudinal configuration. This not only permits interchangeability of a users bridge, should the sleeve and pontic portion be lost or damaged, but is also important in satisfactorily retaining the sleeve in embracing relationship to the bar. Thus, the curvilinear configuration of the components permits a greater retention therebetween and further permits the frictional [lit to be regulated or adjusted by minutely distorting the bar 42 to reestablish random surface contact between the serrations of the bar and the inner face 38 of the sleeve. Such distortion is possible only if the components are curvilinear inasmuch as if the same were straight, any distortion of the bar would tend to shorten the length thereof, thereby creating pressure on the abutment teeth.

Thus, the combination of a bar and a sleeve each having the arc of a common circle and fabricated from a metal such as hereinabove described, has been found to create a dental bridge wherein the sleeve may be tightly retained in frictional embracing relationship with the bar, but yet which may be easily removed upon the application of the necessary force thereto, the arcuate configuration of the components adding to the strength of retention therebetween and yet further permitting adjustment of the bridge for continued retention should continued use thereof alter or weaken the original retention characteristics. The fact that the bar and the sleeve are arcs of a common circle is also significant in permitting interchangeability of components of the bridge.

The foregoing is also true with respect to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and '7 of the drawing. In this embodiment, the bridge, broadly designated by the numeral 50, is designed for insertion into an arch designated as 52, the specific form of the invention illustrated in this embodiment showing an upper arch wherein the bridge consists of the first and second premolars constituting the pontics, although it will be appreciated that any one or more pontics may constitute the bridge within the contemplation of this form of the invention.

Thus, the bridge as illustrated, consists of two pontics 54 and an artificial tissue portion 56 molded in surrounding relationship to the upper portion of the pontic. In order that the bridge 50 may be removably inserted into the arch 52, pontics 54 have the rear faces thereof provided with a slot 58, which slot receives a longitudinally curvilinear sleeve 60, the sleeve being seated within the slot 58 and suitably secured therein, as by adhesive or the like, the outer surface of the sleeve being provided with knurling, as illustrated, in order to aid in securing the sleeve within the slot.

Sleeve 60 is W-shaped in transverse cross-sectional configuration whereby to present a bight 62 and three spaced, normally vertically disposed legs 64, the sleeve having an outer face 66 which is knurled, and a pair of inner, U-shaped faces 68, said inner faces defining a pair of curvilinear channels or grooves 70. In the embodiment illustrated, the inner faces 68 are shown as being smooth, as in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, although it will be appreciated that said faces could be provided with suitable serrations or the like.

In order to receive the bridge 50, arch 52 is provided with a pair of spaced, parallel, longitudinally curvilinear bars 72 which span the distance between a pair of spacedapart abutment teeth 74 and are suitably secured to said abutment teeth 74.

Bars 72 are each rectangular in transverse cross-sectional configuration, whereby each presents a pair of opposed sidewalls 76, such sidewalls having a plurality of longitudinally extending serrations 78 formed thereupon, whereby a corrugated surface is presented throughout the width and length of each of the sidewalls 76.

The distance between the legs 64 of sleeve 60, that is the width of channels 70, is substantially the same as the width of each bar 72, the depth of channels being substantially equal to the height of bars 72 and the width of central leg 64 being substantially equal to the distance between the bars 72, all to the end that bars 72 may be complementally received within and embraced by the sleeve 60 and the U-shaped grooves 70 thereof.

In the form of invention illustrated in FIGS. 5-7, the sleeve and the bars are also each fabricated of a highstrength, corrosion resistant metal which has the property of providing a suflicient cohesive force between the interengaged surfaces of the sleeve and the bars whereby to substantially resist relative movement of the sleeve with respect to the bars once the former has been placed in embracing relationship to the latter, such retention being enhanced by the properties of the metal, but yet removal of the sleeve from the bar being permitted by provision of the serrations 78 on the bars 72 when a substantial force is applied to the sleeve. Likewise, both the sleeve and the bars are curvilinear in longitudinal configuration, each constituting the arc of a common circle for purposes hereinabove explained with respect to the initial form of the invention.

The form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 810 is similar to the two prior embodiments. In said form the bridge 80 is in the form of a single-tooth saddle bridge having a pontic 82 and a tisue portion 84, the tissue portion 84 having a slot 86 formed therein for receiving a W-shaped sleeve 88.

A pair of bars is suitably attached to a posterior tooth such as 92 in any suitable manner whereby to cantilever said pair of bars 90 from said tooth 92. Bars 90 are of similar construction to bars 72 in that the same are each rectangular in transverse cross-sectional configuration and present a pair of opposed sidewalls. However, since bar assembly 90 is attached only to a single tooth, the free ends of the bars are interconnected as by a. stretch 94.

Bars 90 and sleeve 88 are of a longitudinally curvilinear configuration constituting the arc of a common circle and, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 8-10 would be an arc of a circle having a greater circumference than those heretofore disclosed so that the bar 90 would be substantially straight, although yet constituting the arc of a circle. Likewise, the sleeve 88 and bar 90 of the latter form of the invention are fabricated from the same type of metal as are the preceding forms of the invention in order that sleeve 88 may be fitted over bars 90 in frictional embracing relationship thereto, thereby providing sufiicient retention between the bar and the sleeve to resist relative movement thereof, but yet without preventing such movement for separation of the bar and the sleeve when a substantial force is applied to the sleeve.

It has been found, with respect to all forms of the invention hereinabove described, that both the bar and the sleeve for a given bridge may be machined from a cylinder of the desired metal thereby obtaining components which are the arc of a common circle and which may, therefore, be utilized in the advantageous manner hereinabove described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A dental bridge comprising: a pair of spaced, parallel curvilinear bars, one end of each bar being secured to an abutment tooth adjoining the area to be bridged, said bars each being polygonal whereby to each present a pair of opposed sidewalls, said sidewalls having corrugations thereon; a curvilinear sleeve having a pair of channels therein each adapted to frictionally embrace a corresponding bar, there being at least one pontic secured References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,508,546 5/1950 Skinner 325 2,694,858 11/1954 Cluytens 325 2,826,814 3/1958 Sappey et al 325 ROBERT PESHOCK, Primary Examiner. 

